Odyssey tempest vs PS Audio PCA2 vs?

I have not heard the two pre-amps you mention, but I have owned the PCA-2 for several months. I compared this pre-amp to many others (in my house, on my system). The only one in the price range you mention was the Adcom GFP-750. The others ranged in price up to around $8000 (Conrad Johnson Premier of some variety). All I'll say is that I felt the PCA-2 to be natural and transparent, the equal or better of all the others. The bottom line, however, is that audio is subjective and your likes will be different than mine or anyone else. You lose nothing if you try the PCA-2 at home and send it back if you don't like it (except the shipping of course). Why not listen and decide for yourself?

I have gotten so spoiled with my SCE HRS Placette passive it isn't funny. I used to run the variable out of a CD player directly to an amp thinking I could spend more on quality ICs if I only had to buy one set. I tried the Placette and as soon as I plugged it in the difference was immedialtely noticeable for the better it was as if the music was freed from electronic restraints. After a while I added the SCE HRS and the improvement was worth the extra set of ICs. Being an easy box to mod, I upgraded the components inside the HRS for even more transparency.